Hundreds of adult chinook salmon needed to create future generations have been killed after rainstorms sent sediment into a fish trap on the South Fork of the Salmon River in central Idaho.
Officials tell the Idaho Statesman that the loss means significantly fewer adult chinook salmon will return to the South Fork Salmon in 2018.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game says the rain event on Aug. 6 caused sediment to flow into holding ponds and suffocate the fish.
Idaho Fish and Game as well as Nez Perce Tribe workers rushed tanker trunks to the facility to save as many salmon as possible.
Workers saved about 200 fish but about 1,200 died.
A few more salmon might return but the peak of the run is over.